Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of A Play-Based Nature Camp On Self-Regulation In School-Age Children, Margaret Berkemeyer

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is a program evaluation with a mixed-methods design that evaluated the effectiveness of Y Rangers, a summer camp offered by the YMCA of San Francisco, in increasing the self-regulation abilities of school-age children. A total of 18 caregivers completed the quantitative portion of this study that included pre/post-test analyses of self-regulation measures. There were no statistically significant changes between pre and post assessments of self-regulation. A subset of seven caregivers and three Y Rangers counselors participated in interviews, the transcripts of which were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Caregivers experienced Y Rangers as a unique opportunity for their …

Beyond Symptoms: Examining Perinatal Mental Health Care Among Black, Indigenous And People Of Color With Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, Vinaya Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are as a public health concern in the United States. Individuals from minoritized racial/ethnic groups face a significantly elevated risk of maternal morbidity, mortality, mental health disorders, and associated adverse outcomes. Emerging studies also reveal a higher likelihood of experiencing perinatal mental health concerns in individuals with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), currently known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). People who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC) face unique healthcare challenges given the added structural and social burdens. This online survey study aimed to 1) understand the relationship between PMOS …

Kinesiology Department Chairs’ Perceptions Of Their Training And Preparation, Kason O’Neil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Department chairs are responsible for leading academic departments in higher education.  These individuals regularly make important decisions regarding such things as managing faculty and academic programming, overseeing budgets, and supporting student needs. Despite these responsibilities, many people become department chairs without receiving formal leadership training. This study explored how kinesiology department chairs across the United States viewed their preparation for the role and the importance of leadership training. A total of 111 department chairs completed an online survey about their background, previous training, and the importance of training for different administrative responsibilities. The results showed that most chairs had little …

The Willing And The Compelled: How Power And Place Shape Human-Bison Coexistence In Poland And The United States, Patrick Orville Kelly

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildlife recovery programs depend not just on animals, but on how people feel about living with them. The degree to which people accept the disruptions wildlife brings to their lives, known as social tolerance, can determine whether a recovery program succeeds or fails, yet it remains understudied and underapplied in management plans. This dissertation studies how people in Poland and the western United States feel about living with the two living species of bison, the largest land animals in Europe and North America. In Poland, we surveyed 242 residents living at different distances from European bison habitat. Surprisingly, the most …

Unpacking Environmental Racism Through Dependency Theory In The Case Of Second-Hand Goods Export To West Africa, Prince Nii Koi Kotei, Adusei-Asante, Shajimon Peter, Portia Nana Ama Brempong

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The second-hand goods export market is complex and inextricably intertwined with environmental racism and dependency theories. Studies have shown that the adverse impacts of second-hand goods exports outweigh their benefits. West African countries are marginalised and are trapped in a dependency cycle. The literature discusses secondhand goods exports; however, it rarely situates this within the context of the dependency theory and environmental racism. This study seeks to address this gap by integrating several studies under a common theoretical framework connecting dependency theory to environmental racism. This study unpacks environmental racism through dependency theory in the export of second-hand goods. Specifically, …

The Downstream Effect Of Gender Bias On Academic Performance And Career Aspirations Amongst Female Students In Stem Via Gender-Professional Identity Integration (G-Pii), Chi-Ying Cheng, Shuna Shiann Khoo, Shih-Fen Cheng, Yeow Leong Lee, Vandana Ramachandra Rao

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background Gender imbalance in STEM, characterized by a significant underrepresentation of women, remains a significant challenge. Although gender bias is a well-known contributor to women’s attrition from STEM, the psychological mechanisms linking gender bias to departure are less well understood. Our research investigates early antecedents of attrition and the psychological processes that precede leaving the STEM pathway in tertiary education. Drawing upon identity integration research, we propose that perceived gender bias exerts undermines female STEM students’ academic performance and career aspirations by reducing their Gender-Professional Identity Integration (G-PII), a construct that captures individual differences in the perceived compatibility between a …

Experiences In Building Social Connectedness And Sense Of Belonging: Voices From African Migrants In Australia, Uchechukwu Levi Osuagwu, Kelechukwu Enyinnaya Ahaiwe, Obed Adonteng-Kissi, Anayochukwu Edward Anyasodor, Kerrie E. Doyle

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Strategies to address social exclusion often involve promoting social connectedness and a sense of belonging. Drawing from existing literature on social inclusion, social connectedness, and belonging, including the use of primary data, this study explored the experiences of African migrants regarding their sense of connectedness and belonging in Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online with 16 African migrants living in Australia. Using purposive sampling, participants were recruited through community groups across various towns and cities. Interviews were conducted via Teams and Zoom video calls, and subsequently transcribed manually for thematic analysis. Findings highlight the necessity for interventions targeting isolation and …

Design Of Automatic Security System Based Internet Of Things At The Museum, Rahmat Ageng Yuwana, Nuryake Fajaryati, Ferry Jie

Elinvo (Electronics, Informatics, and Vocational Education)

This research aims to determine the procedures for developing an Internet of Things (IoT)-based Automatic Security System as a security device for museum objects and to test its feasibility based on user feedback in museums. The Design Thinking model used consists of five stages: Empathize (understanding the user’s perspective), Define (gathering information on the encountered problems), Ideate (generating innovative ideas), Prototype (creating a prototype of the obtained ideas, ensuring the functionality of each device feature, and validating the product through expert judgment for feedback and product revision), and Testing (evaluating the system’s feasibility using Usability standards based on ISO/IEC 9241-11, …

Lost In Chaos: The Battle Between Selfcare And Motherhood, Sarah Shahzad

MS Marketing Research Projects/Theses

Motherhood in collectivist societies such as Pakistan is deeply intertwined with caregiving, leaving limited space for women’s self-care or personal well-being. This study explores how young Pakistani mothers negotiate self-care within competing expectations of maternal sacrifice, cultural morality, and structural constraints. Guided by the Institutional Logics Perspective (ILP), it examines how familial norms, religious values, and market forces collectively shape women’s self-care practices, framing self-care not as an autonomous act but as a negotiated process embedded within social and institutional boundaries. This study adopts an interpretive phenomenological approach to explore how Pakistani mothers experience and negotiate self-care within cultural and …

Assessor Experiences In Cmmc Level 2 Certification Assessments: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Role Expectations, Samuel Heuchert, John Hastings

Research & Publications

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program requires that third-party assessments be conducted under a non-consultative model. The model is intended to ensure impartiality for organizations seeking certification. While this structure defines expectations for assessor behavior, assessor experiences and interpretations of these constraints remain underexamined. The study examines the lived experiences of CMMC-Certified Assessors and how they navigate role expectations within the non-consultative model. Using Role Conflict Theory as a guiding framework, the study applied Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to semi-structured interviews to explore how assessors make sense of their roles. The analysis identified experiential themes that describe how assessors construct …

Advancing Equity Through Mentorship: Supporting Racialized Immigrant And International Students In Canadian Higher Education, Cecilia Bukutu Phd, Viola Manokore Dr, Michael Safo Ofori

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Mentorship initiatives have increasingly supported racialized students in Canada, yet gaps remain in addressing their intersectional needs. This study examines the experiences of Black postsecondary immigrant, refugee, and international students in the Mentorship and Resilience Project (MRP), a racially concordant mentorship initiative. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, data were drawn from interviews, focus groups, and post-workshop surveys. Guided by Anti-Black Racism and Intersectionality frameworks, the study explores how institutional diversity discourses may operate as non-performative practices that obscure structural inequities. Findings show students faced intersecting challenges related to migration status, race, and gender, marked by tensions between invisibility and hypervisibility. …

Lost In Translation: How Higher Education Studies Conflates Latinx And International Latin American Experiences Through Misplaced Racialization, Eduardo Santander

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This autoethnographic study examines how higher education studies conflates international Latin American and domestic Latinx student experiences through what I term “misplaced racialization”, namely, the imposition of domestic racial categories onto international students that fundamentally misrecognizes their distinct positioning as temporary residents, adult-onset racialization subjects, and transnational knowledge holders. Colonial logics are not merely structural; they breathe through the field’s racial grammars. Drawing on Fricker’s (2007) hermeneutical injustice, I argue that higher education’s epistemological boundedness, its lack of native theory and reliance on borrowed American frameworks, does not merely contain colonial logics but is constituted by them, rendering those logics …

Mashin’ Up Stratified Blackness: Unpacking The Communal Responsibility Of Black International/Immigrant Academics To Black American Academics, Candice Peters, Abigail Smith

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Our duoethnographic inquiry, grounded in Intersectionality, addresses the following questions: How do intersectionality and internationalization complicate Black diasporic dynamics within the United States? What communal responsibilities do Black international/immigrant people hold toward Black American people within the U.S. academy? Through critical engagement with three previously published poems, we foreground the communal responsibility that arises at the hands of internationalization and unpack the intertwined realities of anti-Blackness, racialized hierarchies, and diasporic dynamics. Our findings unmask three themes: (1) evolving understandings of race across transnational contexts, (2) Black intraracial stratification, and (3) taking up responsibility. We conclude by urging a (re)commitment to …

Settler-Colonial Entanglements: Using Par/Des(I) To Understand Black And Racialized International Student Experiences In Canada, Abu Arif

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This scholarly paper discusses the complex positioning of Black and Racialized international students (BRIS) in Canada, both as marginalized bodies and complicit in perpetuating settler colonialism. It delves into the paradoxical role these students play within the framework of Canadian higher education, which is deeply entwined with the country's colonial history and contemporary policy shifts aimed at managing the influx of international students. The Par/Des(i) decolonial research framework offers a pathway for understanding how BRIS are entangled within settler colonial structures, free from the limitations of the western gaze. The framework guides scholars toward recognizing hybridized ways of being and …

Critical Race Theory And Refugeecrit: A Reflective Account On Understanding The Structural Racism And Power Asymmetries Faced By Afghan Refugee Students In Universities In Delhi, Akanksha Dochania Dr

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Using Critical Race Theory and RefugeeCrit, this study examines structural racism and power asymmetries facing Afghan refugee students in Delhi universities. Drawing on eighteen in-depth interviews, analysis reveals four interconnected themes: (1) invisibility/hypervisibility paradoxes—students are academically voiceless yet constantly surveilled; (2) epistemic inequality—their trauma is extracted while intellectual contributions are dismissed; (3) pedagogical microaggressions—deficit assumptions erode confidence; and (4) institutional gatekeeping—documentation barriers perpetuate marginalization. Findings show that access-oriented policies are insufficient, as neutral-sounding rules reinforce systemic hierarchies. Reflexive thematic analysis underscores researcher positionality in meaning-making. The study expands CRT and RefugeeCrit within the Indian context, urging faculty training, curricular inclusion …

Principles For An Antiracist And Decolonial Internationalization Based On "Pedagogy In Process: The Letters To Guinea-Bissau" By Paulo Freire, Bruno Pereira De Souza Andrade, Alexandre José Cadilhe

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This paper critically reflects on possible paths toward an antiracist and decolonial internationalization of higher education, grounded in the ethical, political, and pedagogical principles of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau. Theoretically and reflectively oriented, it combines an analytical reading of Freire’s work with a narrative synthesis of critical and decolonial studies on internationalization. The analysis is structured around three axes: (i) Decolonizing to internationalize; (ii) Internationalization as a practice of freedom; and (iii) Challenges and pathways for antiracist institutional practices. Given the commonly market-oriented character of internationalization, which perpetuates colonial legacies, Freire’s work provides a powerful …

Conspiracy/Theory [Review] / Joseph Masco And Lisa Wedeen, Eds., Valentin Zywietz

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Gentile Christian Identity From Cornelius To Constantine: The Nations, The Parting Of The Ways And Roman Imperial Ideology [Review] / Terence L. Donaldson., Rodrigo Galiza

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Jews And Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome’S Challenge To Israel [Review] / Katell Berthelot., Rodrigo Galiza

Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS)

No abstract provided.

Tolkien And The Mystery Of Literary Creation By Guiseppe Pezzini, Katherine Sas

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

This article reviews Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation by Giuseppe Pezzini, a study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s creative process in which Pezzini argues for a remarkably consistent and comprehensive (if quirky) theory of literary creation as embodied in Tolkien’s legendarium.

"Making The Familiar Strange": The Ecocentric Power Of Climate Fantasy, John Cook

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Contributing to the failure to address climate change is a lack of public imagination, both in perceiving the threat of climate change and conceptualizing solutions. Climate fiction engages readers on an emotional level and speculative fiction in particular can invent alternative worlds illustrating different ways of thinking and living. Fantasy fiction is uniquely suited as a form of climate fiction, with its immersive, subversive qualities, prioritization of the nonhuman, and a tendency towards sprawling, multiple-volume epic series. This paper explores two categories of climate fantasy themes. One category is recovery—regaining a clear view of the natural world. The other is …

Free University Press: May 11, 1970

UTA Underground Newspaper Collection

No abstract provided.

Expanding Ai Literacy: The 5cs Of News Literacy In The Era Of Generative Ai, Seth Ashley, Adam Maksl, Paul Cook

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article adapts the 5Cs framework of news literacy—context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption—to media environments shaped by generative artificial intelligence. We argue that prevailing discussions of AI literacy overemphasize technical or functional competencies while underemphasizing the social, cultural, political, and communicative systems in which AI operates. Drawing on previous research, we define AI literacy as knowledge of the technical, social, and ethical dimensions of AI-mediated content production, distribution, and consumption, along with the critical capacities needed to exercise agency within those processes. We show how the 5Cs can be reinterpreted for generative AI environments and integrate pedagogical implications for …

Beyond Fragmentation: A Multidimensional Framework For Green Product Innovation, David Mayorga, Jorge Tello-Gamarra, Martín Hernani-Merino, Sonia Oré

Journal of Management for Global Sustainability

Green product innovation (GPI) has become an essential strategy for companies to address environmental challenges while strengthening their competitiveness in a sustainable manner. However, important gaps remain in understanding how internal organizational factors interact with external pressures that shape their implementation. Existing conceptual frameworks have advanced the identification of these factors, but they often focus only on direct relationships and overlook the mechanisms that connect them. They also tend to adopt narrow perspectives that fail to capture the hybrid complexity observed in empirical evidence. This study aims to develop an integrative conceptual framework that synthesizes the antecedents, processes, and outcomes …

Weird Cops (Agency Police), Farhang Heydari

Vanderbilt Law Review

The police badge has migrated deep into the administrative state. Parks, schools, transit, housing, revenue, conservation, insurance, and gaming agencies now field tens of thousands of sworn “Agency Police”—often with full arrest powers despite missions far removed from general public safety. The footprint of these officers is significant and expanding, outpacing the growth of traditional law enforcement. Far from being limited to certain communities, Agency Police attract support across the political spectrum, from law-and-order policymakers to reformers. And yet, Agency Police are largely ignored in legal scholarship. The result is that a large slice of U.S. criminal enforcement is poorly …

Wage Inequalities In Informal Work: Race, Sex, And Citizenship Among Latino Workers In New York State, Amalia Torrecillas Fernandez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This report examines wage variation within informal work in New York State from 2016 to 2022, with particular attention to Latino workers. Using American Community Survey data from three five-year periods (2016, 2019, and 2022). The analysis explores how median hourly wages differ by ethnicity, sex, citizenship status, race, age, and nativity.

Informal workers represented 4.6%-4.7% of New York's workforce, approximately 569,000 to 589,000 workers between the years of study. A substantial wage gap persisted throughout the study period. Formal workers earned $18/hour in 2016 versus $12 for informal workers; by 2022, this widened to $24 versus $14, underscoring the …

Using Scenario-Based Generative Ai In A Social Studies Methods Course, Timothy Lintner, Ellis Reeves

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming the landscape of educator preparation. This shift is especially evident in social studies. As emerging technologies like AI reshape how social studies is taught and learned, it is essential to incorporate them into course design and student outcomes. Simply put, we must ensure that the next generation of social studies educators can effectively use AI to create real-world, scenario-based learning experiences that foster inquiry and encourage student action-taking. This article examines how AI-supported, scenario-based learning was strategically integrated into a secondary social studies methods course at the University of South Carolina Aiken. From concept …

The End Of Unmeasured Exploitation: How A.S.M., C.A.S., And S.I.A. Challenge Digital Attention Capitalism, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Digital attention capitalism generates value through the capture and monetization of human attention, yet it has historically lacked standardized mechanisms for measuring attention-related harm. This paper argues that the Attention Safeguard Models (A.S.M.), Cognitive Attentional Standards (C.A.S.), and Sociological Impact Assessment (S.I.A.) collectively challenge this system by introducing an integrated framework for classifying, measuring, and evaluating digital attention harm and its societal consequences. C.A.S. provides standardized measurement of digital attention harm, A.S.M. identifies and classifies patterns of attentional disruption and manipulation, and S.I.A. evaluates broader impacts on institutions, communities, civic engagement, education, social cohesion, and inequality. Together, these systems transform …

The Incommensurability-Preserving Coupler: A Non-Purchasable Recognition Balance Sized Only From The Thank-You Message, Beside Money Gifts, Time Pledges And Prepaid Item Gift Codes, With The Merchant's Own Item Price As The Only Exchange Rate And One Payment Type Per Gift Message, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This defensive publication's revision adds a third gift cargo and claims 8–11 to a dual-currency gift system in which peer-to-peer money gifts and non-transferable, expiring time pledges run as one economy with no exchange rate. The system also carries prepaid item gift codes, bought at a shop's own price, beside per-person recognition balances that cannot be bought, transferred or cashed. Each thank-you message's recognition amount is computed only from the message (its words, a sender-chosen sentiment marker, its recorded length, the parties it names, and a model's refinement within a fixed band), never from any money amount, item, price, length …

Transparency As Enforcement: Anti-Abuse Without Legal Contract Machinery — Community Disclosure In Place Of Terms-Of-Service Enforcement, Limited To Incurred Obligations, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This paper discloses a design pattern for abuse prevention in online platforms and shared-fund applications that replaces terms-of-service enforcement, dispute resolution and account termination with disclosure: the conduct to be policed is made visible to the bounded community it affects, and that community's own response is the sanction. Three properties make disclosure work as enforcement: the visibility itself is the mechanism, the response is proportioned by the community rather than by a binary rule, and participants join knowing what will be visible. Two deployments are specified: disclosure to a family of every reward its steward receives from the family's shared …